Batting Average : 1938 American League Top 25

Finding the American or National League leader in virtually every hitting & pitching statistic is easy-to-do. Finding the top 25 players during any given season is far more challenging. Baseball Almanac has taken away that difficult problem and is pleased to present the data you requested:

"Maybe I missed my routine and my game so much that I was trying to rationalize reasons for getting it back. I wanted those 162 games. I wanted all the suspense of the playoff and home run races. And I honestly didn't believe baseball would bend far enough to allow the possibility of games in November. I was wrong. And baseball was right." - Paul White in USA Today Baseball Weekly (September 14, 2001)
 

1938 Batting Average Leaders

Top 25 in the American League

Jimmie Foxx .349 (.34867) Boston Red Sox 1
Jeff Heath .343 (.34263) Cleveland Indians 2
Ben Chapman .340 (.33958) Boston Red Sox 3
Buddy Myer .336 (.33638) Washington Senators 4
Cecil Travis .335 (.33510) Washington Senators 5
Hal Trosky .334 (.33394) Cleveland Indians 6
Rip Radcliff .330 (.33002) Chicago White Sox 7
Earl Averill .330 (.32988) Cleveland Indians 8
Joe Cronin .325 (.32453) Boston Red Sox 9
George McQuinn .324 (.32392) St. Louis Browns 10
Joe DiMaggio .324 (.32387) New York Yankees 11
Joe Vosmik .324 (.32367) Boston Red Sox 12
Hank Greenberg .315 (.31475) Detroit Tigers 13
Bill Dickey .313 (.31278) New York Yankees 14
Bob Johnson .313 (.31261) Philadelphia Athletics 15
Mel Almada .311 (.31122) Washington Senators 16
St. Louis Browns  
Red Rolfe .311 (.31062) New York Yankees 17
Dixie Walker .308 (.30837) Detroit Tigers 18
Wally Moses .307 (.30730) Philadelphia Athletics 19
Charlie Gehringer .306 (.30634) Detroit Tigers 20
Gee Walker .305 (.30543) Chicago White Sox 21
George Case .305 (.30485) Washington Senators 22
Sam West .305 (.30452) St. Louis Browns 23
Washington Senators  
Pinky Higgins .303 (.30344) Boston Red Sox 24
Al Simmons .302 (.30213) Washington Senators 25



The most recognizable Detroit Tiger to wear the number twenty-five was probably Norm Cash (who wore it from 1960 through 1974), but did you know that Hall of Famer Larry Doby also wore it during his single season with Detroit?

Did you know that more than forty players have worn the number twenty-five for the Boston Red Sox — including Jack Clark, Denny Galehouse, Dizzy Trout and Tony Conigliaro.

The first player from the Angels franchise (they were the California Angels at the time) to wear the number twenty-five was Bob Perry.